The first time I ever saw violinist Lindsey Stirling in June 2015, I was blown away by how popular she was. She also handcraft her shows to include set designs, videos, designated dancers, and plenty of nerdy instrumentals. Fans loves her, and her fanbase probably grew one thousand times since I last saw her.

Hot recording duo, Alexander Jean (featuring Mark Ballas and BC Jean), has been asked to open up for Stirling on her “Warmer in the Winter Christmas Tour” tour.

The husband & wife duo has a few #1 on the iTunes’ Singer/Songwriter charts with their debut EP Head High, and with another #1 for debut single ‘Roses and Violets’.

Jeffrey Foucault's new album Salt As Wolves was recorded live in just three days in rural Minnesota. The record is described as moving like a vintage Chess record, with an openness and dimensionality that beckons the listener
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Husband & wife Kris Delmhorst and Jeffrey Foucault will be headlining the Cedar Cultural Center. Their record The Wild came out under Kris Delmhorst’s name, but featured Jeffrey Foucault and members of his band. Although married, the two maintain very different album and touring careers (in fact, Foucault was last seen in Minneapolis on December 2016)… so it’s nice to see that they are co-headlining this current tour.

The co-headlining Thrice and Circa Survive will be taking place at the Myth on Friday. Show up early to check out Balance & Composure and Chon. You may recall how the instrumental band Chon blew us away in August 2016: “They captivated the crowd with their sweeping guitar solos and complicated drum rhythms.”

Chon’s second full-length album Homeyon is out now on Sumerian Records.

Ggoolldd will be stopping by the 7th Street Entry this Saturday, in support of their new Teeth EP. We caught the Milwaukee band in October 2016, and wrote, “Musically, the band like a fun electro/pop dance party. Most of their set included songs from their debut Gold+ album... but their latest single ‘Undercovers’ came out October 7, 2016.”

For the first time her career, local classically trained pianist and composer, Lorie Line will be bringing her traditional Christmas show to St. Paul at the Fitzgerald Theater in St Paul. Her show, “King of Kings” will celebrate the magnificent story and the birth of our Savior.

The journey for Karmin’s Amy Heidemann and Nick Noonan has been a wild one, to say the least after the duo signed to Epic Records and scored the double-platinum hit “Brokenhearted” off their 2012 EP Hello
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Violinist Lindsey Stirling is currently on her Music Box Tour, stopping by the Northrop Auditorium in Minneapolis last night, June 4th.

Cailee Rae

Kicking off the event was Los Angeles, by the way of St. Louis, Cailee Rae, who had with a full band. Her five song set included "Beautiful Lights" which she dedicated to the audience and set closer "Running Back to You".

Based on her brief 17-minute appearance, I can tell that she's very confidence in her music and message.

Karmin

Boston's Karmin was up next, appearing on stage after an ominous dramatic music intro and darkened stage lighting. Seeing singer Amy Heidemann doing very specific dance moves, you got the feeling that she has very specific dances for certain songs.

Their set featured plenty of covers - often medley into existing Karmin songs, making it easily accessible by pop or rock music fans.

Prior to playing their new song "Blame It On My Heart" (with rapid Korn rap/singing of "Here to Stay"), Heidemann said that after years of being on a major label, the trio is striking on their own: being an independent band once again. With more control over their music and freedom over how their image is used, they seem relieved to finally break away and announced that their second full-length album Leo Rising will be available sometime this year (2015).

They previewed some of the new tracks from Leo Rising, including their first song "Didn't Know You", "Blame It On My Heart" and "Along the Road". The latter song had Heidemann sitting on a stool, but then changed her mind and preferred sitting on the floor instead.

I'll say this, the band was really fun to watch. I can see why over 1.5 people liked their Facebook page and I noticed plenty of hardcore Karmin fans in the audience.

Arizona's Lindsey Stirling is a super star violinist and dancer. I believe her personality (which you can see on her popular YouTube channel) and talent help her sell half a million of her album. Whatever she is doing, she's doing it right.

Setlist

Her show is actually pretty fun, because of the costume changes and choreographed dance sequence by her four dancers (from Los Angeles, Nebraska, Utah, and Michigan), her set is mostly unchanged from show to show.
For the time-consuming costume changes, we're shown 2-3 minute videos to allow for setup to the next song.

If I were to describe her show, it would be a cross between Riverdance and Celtic Woman. So if you like those things, you'll have a good time.

The majority of her set is instrumental, with one exception: "Firefly" had Stirling singing on the track.

My favorite song on her set was her so-called "Nerd Medley", a medley of Assassin's Creed, Skyrim, Dragon Age: Inquisition, Halo, Legend of Zelda.... basically all the games I own.

Other highlight was her battle with keytar player Gavi on "Roundtable Rival". That was fun, I'm not entirely sure if you can actually text your votes during the performance... but the violin won over the keytar.

Lindsey Stirling's Shatter Me is out now. She continues her tour with Karmin and Cailee Rae on the Music Box Tour: